Pig Book FOR SALE by in Books / July 26th, 2006
Buy a copy by using the links on the sidebar!
The Pig and the Box is about a pig who finds a magic box that can replicate anything you put into it. The pig becomes so protective of it, and so suspicious of anyone that wants to use it, that he makes people take their copied items home in special buckets that act as… well, they’re basically DRM. It’s like a fable, except the moral of the story is very modern in tone.I made the book after hearing how the entertainment industry in Canada is keen on teaching young kids about how to “respect” copyright. That was a bit heavy-handed, I thought, and otherwise despicable. Preying on small kids, brainwashing them so they believe what you’re doing is honourable and good… Feh. So I wrote this book partly as a response to that venture, to counter-act the confused ideals that young’ns are being exposed to these days. Also, I wanted to write potty humour.
Bring the Pig home and damage your children!
Buy the Pig on paper for only $18.99 USD!
This gets you a fantastic-quality, full-colour 8×8 book in nice shiny paper, signed by the author. It’s limited-edition goodness, without… er… any competing editions… (hmm…) It’s pricey for a kid’s book, I know, but I’m a print-on-demand author, and for this kinda thing, that translates into a higher price tag. If I could figure it out any other way, believe me, I would.
Half of all profits go to Oxfam! That’s the same as helping kids in need while making your own smarter! Not that your kids are dumb, I’m just… er… yeah. Never mind.
Shipping:
Shipping costs have settled to a flat $10.25 for anyone, anywhere. This includes the blood, sweat and tears that I put into each packaging job, my pitiful and unimportant autograph inside the cover, and a hand-written doodle saying “thanks”. Cheaper options will soon be available via third-party sellers, so I don’t feel so bad making this so damn expensive!
Processing:
“Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery” is about right. I do print runs every 2 weeks and send them out ASAP (depends on volume etc etc). If you happen to order a copy at the tail end of the 2 week period, it might only take a week to get it by mail. Think of it as a game of chance. Yeah, that’s the ticket!
Thanks again to EVERYONE that has given me all this support for the last few weeks. It’s been quite a trip, and I’m glad I can finally get to the next stage!
Note: Updated shipping section.
July 27th, 2006 at 12:22 pm
why buy it when you can read it for free on the web
July 27th, 2006 at 12:28 pm
Shh, don’t tell people that! They might put the file on that bit-torrrent thingamabob, and soon it’ll be all over teh internets!
Actually, that might be a good idea. Server melting!
July 27th, 2006 at 12:51 pm
I hate to say it but… most all of the characters come off as just whiners who want want want. Instead of trying to come up with a way to solve their own problems and desires, they just want to have a magic wand (or box) solve their problems. Then when the magic free stuff doesn’t work, they complain.
The story works really well as a parable of gross consumerism and excess. “We want it, we want a bunch of it, we don’t care how we get it, we don’t care what the price is.” That is, until someone asks them to pay the price.
I also was imagining this whole entropy issue with the box. That every time a banana got duplicated, some little monkey on an island somewhere starved because his bananas suddenly vanished.
July 27th, 2006 at 1:00 pm
“I also was imagining this whole entropy issue with the box. That every time a banana got duplicated, some little monkey on an island somewhere starved because his bananas suddenly vanished.”
I’m saving that for the sequel. The monkeys on the island band together, build a ship and sail to the Pig’s home, and burn it to the ground. And… er…
No, sorry, I’m thinking of something else.
The issue of consumerism is completely different than artistic property rights. Actually, that’s a good question: if the ideal in a networked world is for artists to be able to distribute their works easily and transparently, and payment works in a voluntary-only basis, is that actually still soulless consumerism? What exactly defines “excess”? Endless possibilities, or the fact that consumers are taken advantage of?
Ah, good thinkin’ for my morning coffee.
July 27th, 2006 at 1:48 pm
Hi MCM!
Sorry about the delay in the norwegian translation! Something came up for both me and the other translator. We’ve both translated the whole book now, but we havn’t started to merge those translations yet. Hope you’re not disappointed..
How many pledges have you gotten? I’m looking forward to getting my signed book..!
Oh, and we migth get a(n) (electronic) release of your book with some advertisement for it too here in Norway. The norwegian “version” of EFF, EFN, has contacted me about this..
July 27th, 2006 at 2:08 pm
@børge: It’s my favourite line about the book now when people ask: “Translated into 7 languages… Norwegian coming soon!” I dunno what I’ll do once it’s finally done…
Pledges are going well… it’s a big number to hit, so I’m not really surprised that it’s slow-going. Still, if you know anyone that might be interested, tell them the address!
The EFN thing sounds very cool… tell me if anything happens with that… I won’t understand it, but it’ll be fun to read anyway